Adam Schiff hits back at Republicans calling on him to resign

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

After his Republican colleagues on Thursday called on him to resign as chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) fired back against their claims that he used his position to "knowingly promote false information" about collusion between President Trump's campaign and Russia.

Congress has not yet received Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, just Attorney General William Barr's four-page summary, but Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) told Schiff that its findings "conclusively refute" Schiff's assertions that there is evidence of collusion. "We have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties," Conaway said.

An angry Schiff shot back, accusing Republicans of ignoring major pieces of public evidence that indicate collusion occurred — that Donald Trump Jr. said he would "love" for the Russian government to pass along damaging information on Hillary Clinton; that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn lied to the FBI about his communications with the then-Russian ambassador to Washington; and that Trump's former campaign chair Paul Manafort was accused of passing along polling data to an associate with ties to Russian intelligence.

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"You might think that's okay," Schiff said. "I don't. I think it's unethical. I think it's unpatriotic. I think it's corrupt and evidence of collusion." Schiff added that he has "always said that the question of whether this amounts to conspiracy is another matter. But I do not think that conduct, criminal or not, is okay. And the day we do think that's okay is the day we will look back and say that is the day America lost its way." Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.